Twenty-four hours of golf well worth the cause

Posted: Sunday, August 21, 2005

Mike Kistler had every reason to be beaming the way he was Saturday afternoon.

Here it was, the end of a long day after an even longer night, but the owner of Crosswinds Golf Club was just getting a party started, leading a toast and making a speech full of words everyone around him wanted to hear.

And not only because he was telling people who had just played golf all night that they could finally go home. Kistler was also revealing how worthwhile the exercise truly was when he announced that the 24 Wishes in 24 Hours Golf-a-Thon had exceeded the expectations it was formed on.

The event raised more than $125,000 for the local chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, meaning it will pay for even more than the targeted 24 wishes for Savannah-area children facing life-threatening diseases.

And hearing that felt as good as getting off of my feet at the time.

Let's just say that the best part of playing golf for 24 hours in a row is finishing. It's knowing that you've done something that not many people ever will and fewer would even try.

Of course, anybody who sticks a knitting needle in his ear can say the same thing. But this felt a little more meaningful than that.

It also felt like I had abused myself - my hands as if I had spent the day unloading a cactus truck and my feet as if I had just walked up a fairway of hot coals. I guess golf only seems like a contact sport if you come in contact with it for a full day.

About a dozen of us played as ironmen, going all 24 hours, some with virtually no breaks. I'm just not sure if any group played as many holes as myself, Mike Sickles and Michael Gary, who got in 127 - 54 on Crosswinds' championship course and 73 on the lighted par-3.

We did it by playing 27 holes on the big course Friday afternoon, then making eight trips around the little nine-holer after dark - plus one extra par 3 to reach 100 holes before breakfast - before going out for another 27 under the sun. We also did it by stopping only to use the restroom or make a sandwich or change clothes. (Although I did sneak in two five-minute showers that were thoroughly refreshing. And when I changed golf shoes at 5 a.m. it felt as if I had just gotten new legs.)

Somehow, at the end, Gary was still launching drives the way he was when he shot 71 on our first 18 holes and Sickles was still making putts, which he did all night on his way to 25 birdies.

And while those two are good players, they're even better partners, the kind of guys you really could spend all day with.

As we were finishing our final nine, we agreed there was never a moment when any of us were close to quitting. And that fatigue came earlier than expected - the hours between midnight and 2 a.m. were probably most taxing - but was less of an issue than originally feared. In fact, once the sun came up again, it actually got easier, even if we were using every muscle in our bodies to swing the club and searching for any sliver of shade during the blistering final few hours.

But in the end it was more fulfilling than tiring. This event that was impressive to watch come together and amazing to see work was simply rewarding to be a part of.

And it only succeeded because of a lot of other people who won't get to write about their experience in the newspaper.

Like Kistler, who donated the use of his golf course for the better part of two days. That eliminated the most significant expense of a charity golf event and thereby maximized the amount of money that could be raised.

And like Jenny Anderson, Amber Lakous and Corey Wyble, Crosswinds employees who spent closer to 40 straight hours at the course preparing for, overseeing and cleaning up after the golf. If it wasn't for them making sure everyone had enough to eat and drink and providing timely encouragement, nobody would have made it through the night.

And like the team from the Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co., who raised more than $30,000 to push the event over its monetary target and make up for us slackers who did not reach our pledge goal.

A lot went into it, but even more came out of it.

For me, there was the satisfaction of helping people help people and the gratification of participation in something that will make a difference. And soon there'll be the neat new wallet I'll be able to make from all the skin that will be peeling off my feet the next few days.

But mostly I left with a valuable, new awareness. Because now the next time somebody calls and asks if I want to take a day to play golf, I'll know to ask exactly what he means by that.